Platos and Aristotles Views on Knowledge - 1407 Words

Anthony Pulliam Humanities 09/17/2010 Platos and Aristotles Views on Knowledge Plato and Aristotle view knowledge and the process whereby it is obtained. They both point out that many epistemological concepts which they believe where knowledge comes from and what it is actually. Most of them have been astonished me in certain ways, but I found that rationalism and wisdom consists in knowing the cause which made a material thing to be what it is make the most sense to me regarding the nature of knowledge. As the following, we will discuss about why these two philosophical viewpoints are superior and the others are inferior. Aristotle believes that sensory perception of material objects is knowledge and he says, Our senses begin the†¦show more content†¦In Platos Theaetetus, he says, Any one forms the true opinion of anything without rational explanation, you may say that his mind is truly exercised, but has no knowledge. This is quite true that when one can state a true opinion supported by a rational explanation, ones opinion constitutes knowledge, since perceptions of senses are excluding in this case. Moreover, a rational explanation does not contain any subjectivity, it is an objective entity for humans to understand true knowledge. For this reason, I fall with rationalism and believe it is a superior philosophical viewpoint about the nature of knowledge. Aristotle sustains that wisdom consists in knowing the cause which made a material thing to be what it is. For Aristotle, wise people know more than just what something is; they also know why it is what it is, or what causes it to be what it is. People with wisdom, for instance, a master worker understand not only that fire is hot, but also know why it is hot. Those with experience only, who do not know why something works in a certain manner, cannot teach. Say physicians understand that there is a relationship between the medical condition of this class of patients and the ingredients in this particular drug. They are then motivated to learn why the drug works on theseShow MoreRelatedPlatos and Aristotles Views on Knowledge1414 Words   |  6 Pages09/17/2010 Platos and Aristotles Views on Knowledge Plato and Aristotle view knowledge and the process whereby it is obtained. They both point out that many epistemological concepts which they believe where knowledge comes from and what it is actually. Most of them have been astonished me in certain ways, but I found that rationalism and wisdom consists in knowing the cause which made a material thing to be what it is make the most sense to me regarding the nature of knowledge. As the followingRead MoreExamining the Ethics of Plato and Aristotle Essay1063 Words   |  5 Pagesand view on their ethics. 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